Six National Lifesaving Awards, Special Tribute to Local Community Leader to Spotlight American Red Cross Annual Meeting
News Release: June 1, 2001
Contact: Janice Osborne, Manager-Media & Community Affairs
(610) 865-4400, ext. 262
The American Red Cross, Lehigh Valley Chapter will bestow national awards and recognition on seven Lehigh Valley residents at its annual meeting Wednesday, June 6 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Gateway Conference Center in Bethlehem.
American Red Cross awards include the Certificate of Merit and Lifesaving Award for the Professional Responder, both of which are lifesaving awards; the Clara Barton Award, in recognition of superior volunteer leadership; and the Henry Dunant Society membership, in recognition of outstanding community support.
The Certificate of Merit, the highest award given by the American Red Cross to an individual or team of individuals who saves or sustains a life by using skills and knowledge learned in a Red Cross Health and Safety Services course, will be presented to three individuals in two separate lifesaving incidents.
To be honored are Barry Hay of Catasauqua; Philip Janenko, Allentown; and Nancy Kaiser, Pen Argyl. All were trained in American Red Cross First Aid and CPR.
In February 2000, Hay and Janenko helped save the life of Leroy Hendricks of Allentown, who collapsed as a result of a cardiac arrest while walking with his wife at Little Lehigh Parkway.
Hendricks' wife alerted Hay and Janenko who both work at the Allentown Parks building in the parkway. Janenko called 911 and directed the ambulance to the scene. Hay checked for a pulse, did not find one, and started chest compressions on Hendricks. Hendricks' wife offered to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation as Hay coached her through the breathing techniques.
Assisting Hay and Janenko were Ray Petrowsky, Tim Washitzko, Ryan Martucci and Mike Weiss, all Allentown Parks employees. At the time of the rescue, eight inches of snow were on the ground and employees used a backhoe to open a path for the ambulance to get directly to Hendricks.
Kaiser, secretary and part-time aide at Wind Gap Middle School, is credited for saving a student who was choking. During cafeteria duty at the school, Kaiser noticed the boy was in distress and was unable to speak. He gestured to Kaiser that he was choking. Kaiser wrapped her arms around the boy and applied abdominal thrusts. On the second thrust, the object was projected from the boy's airway. The student was escorted to the nurse's office and later was able to return to class.
The Certificate of Merit bears the signatures of the President of the United States, who is the Honorary Chairman of the American Red Cross, and Norman R. Augustine, Chairman of the American Red Cross.
The Lifesaving Award for the Professional Responder was created to recognize professional responders who save or sustain a life while on duty by using skills and knowledge learned in a Red Cross Health and Safety Services course. The certificate is signed by the chairman and president of the American Red Cross.
To be honored are David Ruberry of Bethlehem, Benjamin Santaliz of Whitehall and Jason Laubach of Easton. In May, Ruberry, Santalize and Laubach, deputies at the Northampton County Courthouse, revived a cardiac arrest victim by administering CPR and supplemental oxygen and using an automated external defibrillator (AED).
Local American Red Cross volunteer David Vaillette of Slatington will be presented with the Clara Barton Honor Award for Meritorious Volunteer Leadership. This award recognizes meritorious services in volunteer leadership positions held over a period of years. Recipients of the award are inducted into the Clara Barton Society, the highest award the American Red Cross bestows on volunteers. Recipients are nominated by peer Red Cross volunteers.
Vaillette has been a Lehigh Valley American Red Cross Health & Safety instructor since 1983. He is recognized by his peers for his depth of knowledge of Red Cross Health & Safety courses as well as his method of imparting that knowledge to class participants.
He began his Red Cross volunteer career in 1972 in Wisconsin and taught first aid and CPR in the Navy. In 1983 Vailette transferred to the Easton Chapter of the American Red Cross. As a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician for the Slatington Ambulance Corps., he assisted in a successful rescue of four people involved in a single-engine plane crash in the Lehigh River in Slatington in 1993.
Vaillette retired from the United States Postal Service as an electronic technician last year and currently owns and operates Vailletti's Printing in Slatington.
Special tribute will be given to Mrs. Priscilla Payne Hurd, volunteer and community leader, for her influence and impact upon the enhancement of life in the Lehigh Valley and the Red Cross. Hurd will be inducted into the American Red Cross Henry Dunant Society. Father Daniel G. Gambet will serve as master of ceremonies.
The Dunant Society recognizes individuals and organizations whose values uphold those of the Red Cross - a commitment to humanitarian service - at the very highest level. Dunant, a Swiss businessman and author of "A Memory of Solferino," a book written about the one-day battle between Austrian and French forces outside the northern Italian town of Solferino, founded the International Red Cross movement in 1864.
Hurd will be recognized for her many decades of support to the Red Cross community. Through her support, Hurd has enabled the Red Cross to carry out its mission to provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Hurd symbolizes the foundation of the Red Cross: a humanitarian organization led by volunteers and guided by its congressional charter and the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross Movement.
Other awards to be presented at the annual meeting are: The Good Neighbor Award, given to local businesses and corporations that have provided significant, ongoing support to the Red Cross; and the Tiffany Award for Employee Excellence in recognition of superior job performance demonstrated by an employee of the American Red Cross.
Good Neighbor Award winners are: the Americus Centre Hotel, Allentown; Sacred Heart Hospital, Allentown; and UGI Utilities, Inc., Bethlehem. The Tiffany Award winner will be announced at the meeting.
For an invitation to the annual meeting, call the Lehigh Valley Chapter Red Cross at (610) 865-4400. Cost is $20, which includes hors d'oeuvres. A cash bar will be available.
For more information about the Red Cross, call (610) 865-4400, or visit www.redcrosslv.org.
The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization, led by volunteers, that provides relief to victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.
The Lehigh Valley Red Cross serves more than 620,000 residents in Lehigh and Northampton counties. Last year the Red Cross provided health and safety education training and emergency relief services to nearly 15,500 Lehigh Valley residents.
